Jesse Tree Outlines for December 9th-11th(adapted for our toddlers from the RCA website and The Glorious Coming. The symbols and patterns used below are copyrighted by Reformed Church Press)

December 9th: The Law

Galatians 3:24 (NIV) So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

God wants us to love him and to love one another. God wants us to treat others the way that we want to be treated. To help us to understand how to care for each other, many years ago God gave Moses ten ways to live and love others perfectly. These ten rules are called the Ten Commandments, and they are still good rules for us today. But there is a problem. No one can keep them. Israel promised to keep them, but they could not. We cannot either. God gave us his rules to show us that we have sinful and selfish hearts, hearts that do not work properly, hearts that do not want to trust and believe that God is good. God's rules lead us to make a true confession about ourselves. We are sinners, and we need the Savior to come and take away our sins. Come Lord Jesus. Give us your perfect goodness because we cannot be good without you.

December 10th: Rahab

Joshua 2:9 "I know that the Lord has given this land to you."

The Israelites were ready to enter the land that God had promised them. They sent two men into the land to find out more about the land. It was very dangerous to go into the land; if the people who ruled the land had found the two Israelites they would have been killed. Rahab saved the lives of two of God's people. She hid the two men in her house and then helped them to escape. She knew that God had promised the city of Jericho to Joshua and the Israelites, and she believed that God is a powerful God. Brave Rahab honored God because she believed in God's power. Even though Rahab was a sinful woman, God protected Rahab and her family. Rahab hung a red rope from the window in her house so that the Israelites would remember to protect her. God remembered Rahab's faith and took care of her for the rest of her life. Jesus was one of her children's children. Father, help us to trust in your strength. Come and help us to believe. Let your grace cover our sins.

December 11th: Ruth

Ruth 1:16 (NIV) But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God."

Ruth and Naomi had lost all the people they loved. Naomi's two sons--one of them was Ruth's husband--had died, and Naomi's husband had died too. Naomi had been living in Ruth's country, far from her family, and so Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem. Ruth could have stayed in her own country with her own family, but she chose to go to Bethlehem with Naomi. She chose to follow Naomi's God, the true God, instead of the pretend gods that her own people worshiped. Naomi was so sad that she thought that God had forgotten her. In the days of the Bible, most women did not work at a job, so women would go into the fields and take the grain that the farmers left behind. Ruth went into the field to gather grain, and there she met Boaz, a relative of Naomi's, who took care of them. Boaz and Ruth married and had a son. One of their children's children was King David, and one of his children's children was Jesus. God does not forget his children. He remembers. He keeps his promises. Thank you father for your faithfulness. Help us to remember you. Help us to believe that you alone are the true God.

A Little About Us —

We are the children's ministry of Sojourn Community Church, a multi-church congregation in Louisville, KY, and New Albany, IN. Our goal is to show Jesus to children so they grow to be like him and go to tell others about him.